The Outsider | Moving Toward

So then, if anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation. The old things have gone away, and look, new things have arrived!

All of these new things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and who gave us the ministry of reconciliation. In other words, God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ, by not counting people's sins against them. He has trusted us with this message of reconciliation.

So we are ambassadors who represent Christ. God is negotiating with you through us. We beg you as Christ's representatives, "Be reconciled to God!" 

2 Corinthians 5:17-20 (Common English Bible)

God has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That's what Paul tells us. God reconciled us to himself through Christ. God didn't wait for us to clean ourselves up before moving toward us. God didn't keep his distance until we proved ourselves worthy. God moved toward us while we were still sinners, while we were still separated from him, while we were still unclean.

And now God has trusted us to do the same thing. This means that our job isn't to avoid people who are considered unclean. Our job is to move toward them. Our job isn't to maintain a safe distance from people we think might contaminate us. Our job is to extend the same reconciliation to others that God extended to us.

This week, we've explored what it means to move toward people instead of avoiding them. We've seen how Jesus stepped into the water with sinners. We've heard God tell Peter to never call anyone unclean. We've watched Jesus touch the untouchable. We've acknowledged that moving toward people costs us something.

But here's what all of this comes down to: Are we going to be people who move toward others the way God moved toward us?

Because it's one thing to understand intellectually that God moves toward what's unclean. It's another thing to actually embody that in our daily lives. It's one thing to agree that we shouldn't call anyone unclean. It's another thing to actually welcome people we've been avoiding. It's one thing to say we believe there are no outsiders in God's kingdom. It's another thing to actually step into the water with people everyone else is avoiding.

This is hard work. It requires intentionality. It demands that we examine our own hearts and confront our own prejudices. It means asking ourselves uncomfortable questions about who we're avoiding and why.

But this is what we're called to do. This is our ministry. God has entrusted us with the message of reconciliation. And we can't deliver that message from a safe distance. We have to be willing to move toward people the way God moved toward us.

So what does this look like practically? It might mean sitting next to someone in church that everyone else is avoiding. It might mean inviting someone to your home who your neighbors might judge you for welcoming. It might mean standing up for people who are being pushed to the margins, even when it costs you something. It might mean crossing boundaries you've been taught to maintain your entire life.

This is the new creation Paul talks about. The old way of avoiding people, maintaining a safe distance, and protecting ourselves from contamination has gone away. The new way of moving toward people, welcoming outsiders, and extending reconciliation has arrived.

God moved toward you when you were an outsider. God welcomed you when you were unclean. God reconciled you when you were separated from him. And now God is calling you to do the same for others.

So who do you need to move toward this week? Who have you been avoiding that God is calling you to welcome? What boundaries do you need to cross for the sake of extending God's reconciliation to others?

Because you are an ambassador who represents Christ. And the world is watching to see if we really believe what we say we believe, if we really believe that God moves toward people instead of avoiding them, and that we're called to do the same.

Prayer:

God, thank you for moving toward us when we were outsiders. Thank you for reconciling us to yourself when we were separated from you. Thank you for welcoming us when we were unclean. Now help us extend that same reconciliation to others. Make us ambassadors who represent Christ well—not just in our words, but in our actions. Give us courage to move toward people instead of avoiding them. And help us become people who embody your radical welcome in a world that's constantly deciding who's in and who's out. Amen.